Both rabbis and, to a lesser extent – Evangelical leaders have been calling on their followers to get the Covid shot.
Israel365 News reported on a slew of Israeli rabbis pressuring their followers to get vaccinated, even going as far as to claim that God told them to. But there are also many Evangelical leaders doing the same, including the president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse, Franklin Graham. He claims that Jesus would be in favor of the Covid vaccine. Jerry Falwell Jr., one of Trump’s biggest supporters, also encouraged vaccines to alleviate his “nutcase of a Governor.”
Rabbi Chananya Weissman came out with a scathing letter blasting rabbis for demonstrating the same type of idolatry touched on in the Biblical story of Micha.
The idol of Micha
In the Book of Judges, Micha (not the prophet) but the Ephraimite) stole his mother’s silver money to build an idol eventually. That idol was placed in their home to be a sort of intermediary for Michah and his mother to pray to God.
Micah then offered a wandering Levite money to serve as a priest in his idolatrous temple.
“Stay with me,” Micha said to him, “and be a father and a Kohen to me, and I will pay you ten shekalim of silver a year, an allowance of clothing, and your food.” The Levite went (Judges 17:10).
Even though the Levite wasn’t of the Kohanic line, Michah still hired him as the priest of his home.
Then, several soldiers of the Dan tribe arrived at Michah’s home on their way to seek land to conquer. They asked Micah’s priest regarding God’s plans for them, who told them on his volition that their conquest would be there and that they “had the Lord’s blessing.” This, of course, was not true.
Seemingly impressed by the flattering blessing, the Danites stole Micah’s idols from his house and persuaded the Levites to leave Micah and work for them instead
. At the same time, those men entered Micha‘s house and took the sculptured image, the molten image, the ephod, and the household gods. The Kohen said to them, “What are you doing? But they said to him, “Be quiet; put your hand on your mouth! Come with us and be our father and Kohen. Would you rather be Kohen to one man’s household or be Kohen to a tribe and clan in Yisrael?”(Judges 18:18,19).
Paving with good intentions
Rabbi Weissman explains that Micha’s idol was initiated with good intentions. He and his mother used it as a conduit to pray to God. Michah didn’t think he was worthy of a direct connection to the Lord, so he used his mother’s silver to design his infamous idol.
“These Jews have allowed themselves to believe that they are serving Hashem when they are really serving entirely different entities,” he wrote. “They continue to wear masks, inject themselves and others with potentially lethal garbage, persecute their fellow Jew who dissents, and enslave themselves to Amalekites at war with God. They are jeopardizing literally everything in this world and the next in exchange for short-lived convenience and comfort. That is always the bargain when it comes to idolatry.”
But because the idolatry was a direct affront to the Torah’s commandments of not worshipping idols, it was doomed to failure. This is why Michah set up a fake temple with a fake priest who jumped at the opportunity of a better offer to abandon Michah.
The most powerful and persistent form of idolatry
Rabbi Weissman explains that everyone in the story did what they did for money under the guise of serving God. But when push came to shove, it all fell apart, saying: “The inclination to serve Hashem on our terms, and to hijack His word to kosher up whatever we already decided we are going to do, is the most powerful and persistent form of idolatry. It is what led the Jews to stray after the golden calf, and it is why every time the Jews are punished they get a little added on to pay back for that ancient sin.” He then cites the Jewish commentator Rashi.
The Rabbi sees a disturbing connection between the story of Micha’s idol and the lay leaders of today. They try to pressure followers to take “experimental vaccines” and wear masks unnecessarily under the guise of religion.
He finished his letter with a dire warning that Micha’s idolatry is alive and kicking today, saying that Micha’s idol: “didn’t begin when Micha fashioned his idol during the period of the Shoftim (Judges), and it didn’t end when his idol was destroyed. It is one thing to abolish actual idol worship – this our ancestors finally accomplished – but another thing to root out the idolatry of misusing the divine name. This is the most critical job that still remains to us.”
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